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So you think this failure warrants any sort of treatment? Because that's what a lot of you keep fixating on, what the parent and the student did wrong.
No, it is not the teacher's fault the homework wasn't done. But it was entirely her fault (not the student's and not the parent's) that she chose to point this out in front of the entire class instead of using that time and energy to communicate in some way with the parent, or just refrain from making the "award". It's quite telling of her true priorities, no matter how many people choose to evade this important realization.
I'm not sure how you made that leap. I only said that it was the pupil and her parent's fault that it wasn't done. I also said I didn't see the big deal about the very obvious ribbing the teacher gave to the girl.
Having been a less than stellar student in elementary school, I could see a good natured teacher joking around with me about it. Unfortunately, we are becoming a society that takes offense at anything and everything that isn't absolutely flattering and lovely.
I'm not sure how you made that leap. I only said that it was the pupil and her parent's fault that it wasn't done. I also said I didn't see the big deal about the very obvious ribbing the teacher gave to the girl.
Having been a less than stellar student in elementary school, I could see a good natured teacher joking around with me about it. Unfortunately, we are becoming a society that takes offense at anything and everything that isn't absolutely flattering and lovely.
My fourth-grade teacher was awesome. (Hi Mr. Good!) Learning was fun in his class, and he joked around a lot. I will never forget (and was talking about this to my husband just the other day) that one of our spelling words was "devious" and another kid's initials were DVS. When we were learning our spelling words, Mr. Good made a connection and said, "Devious ... DVS!" and pointed at him. Everybody, including this boy, thought it was hilarious and the name stuck. In high school everyone still called him Devious. He introduced himself as Devious to people. Sometimes I wonder what happened to him and whether people still call him Devious. He was the classic math nerd, extremely smart and also well liked because he had a good sense of humor and embraced his nerdiness. (He was Super Nerd for Halloween in junior high. Hysterical. You had to be there.) I believe some think tank somewhere must have Devious, pocket protector and all.
IN context, the Devious label was a funny joke from a popular teacher and a good memory.
OUT of context, this is a story about a bully teacher telling everyone that a social misfit is a sneaky liar. SCARRED FOR LIFE!
My fourth-grade teacher was awesome. (Hi Mr. Good!) Learning was fun in his class, and he joked around a lot. I will never forget (and was talking about this to my husband just the other day) that one of our spelling words was "devious" and another kid's initials were DVS. When we were learning our spelling words, Mr. Good made a connection and said, "Devious ... DVS!" and pointed at him. Everybody, including this boy, thought it was hilarious and the name stuck. In high school everyone still called him Devious. He introduced himself as Devious to people. Sometimes I wonder what happened to him and whether people still call him Devious. He was the classic math nerd, extremely smart and also well liked because he had a good sense of humor and embraced his nerdiness. (He was Super Nerd for Halloween in junior high. Hysterical. You had to be there.) I believe some think tank somewhere must have Devious, pocket protector and all.
IN context, the Devious label was a funny joke from a popular teacher and a good memory.
OUT of context, this is a story about a bully teacher telling everyone that a social misfit is a sneaky liar. SCARRED FOR LIFE!
Context is important.
Great post and I completely agree that context truly is everything when it comes to this kind of situation.
Having been a less than stellar student in elementary school, I could see a good natured teacher joking around with me about it. Unfortunately, we are becoming a society that takes offense at anything and everything that isn't absolutely flattering and lovely.
A good natured teacher might indeed "joke around" with YOU about it....a LOUSY teacher would belittle you in front of the whole class.....
Like, to find out whether it was 100% joke, or if some part of it was true?
I would also, but only for curiosity's sake. I'd still be opposed to the "award" and for the story being publicized. Even if it was just a joke, and if all the kids got one, and they were all randomly assigned; it's a really bad idea. It'd only be a matter of time before someone else complained about one. It might even have been something misinterpreted as a slam on their child's race, gender, religion, weight, etc.
As Julia said, context is important. I'd like to know the context of this. It's very possible this was an "in" joke in the classroom. If it WAS malicious my opinion would be different. But we don't know, do we?
You know, once upon a time, people could have jokes and not everyone rushed to a conclusion that the intent was evil or mean like they do now. The big kids could be called Moose and no one thought much of it. We had a big kid in our gang when I was a kid. He was a little goofy so we hung "Bullwinkle" on him. His brother (who was very short) was called "Rocky". They were two of the most popular kids in the neighborhood. Even the parents took to calling them that. Today, I'm sure that would be considered taboo by the PC crowd because it was obvious their size was the reason for the nicknames.
(And I hope to goodness you know who Rocky and Bullwinkle are.)
If it were my child, I would have taken the award as a NOT so subtle hint that my child was NOT doing their homework and would have focused most of my attention on the child's after school activities...
In elementary school we painted pumpkins (as opposed to carving). I didn't realize there would be rewards, but I got a ribbon for "Ugliest", while others got "Most Creative", "Most Colorful". I was so embarrassed I hid the ribbon in my backpack from my parents. Eventually they found it and I think I cried. Probably not the best thought out plan of my teacher. But life went on and my parents didn't throw a fit as much as I can remember. Still sucked though! I bet this girl will remember this and feel kind of crappy about it for awhile.
Nah. I've had plenty of VERY good teachers who joked around with students in front of the whole class. Shocking, I know.
We're not talking about a teacher "joking around" with [students] in front of the class.....we're talking about ONE student...singled out....and rediculed in front of the class.....remember also, that this child is in elementary school.....it's not like we're dealing with higher grades where the students are now young adults more capable of dealing with such.
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